CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) Brad Corley hit two of Mississippi State's five home runs and Alan Johnson threw a six-hitter to lead the Bulldogs to a 13-2 win over Florida Atlantic in an NCAA regional opener here Friday.<br>
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The Southeastern Conference Tournament champs kept up their recent hot play, pounding out 13 hits and building a 7-0 lead after three innings, thanks mostly to the bat of Corley, who entered with just three homers on the year.<br>
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The Bulldogs (41-20) will play the winner of Miami-Virginia Commonwealth in the winner's bracket Saturday. Florida Atlantic will get the loser in an elimination game earlier that day.<br>
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Corley's bat got Mississippi State off to a hot start in the first when he followed a pair of two-out walks with a three-run homer. Two innings later, after a leadoff double and a walk, Corley made it 6-0 with his second three-run shot.<br>
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Joseph McCaskill added a solo homer in the third to chase FAU's Chris Salberg (6-5), who gave up seven earned runs on five hits and three walks in 2 2-3 innings.<br>
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The Owls (36-23) wouldn't recover, getting just one extra base hit, that on Jonathon Shapland's two-run homer in the sixth that made it 8-2.<br>
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Alan Johnson (5-6) struck out six and gave up just two runs on six hits and two walks in his second complete game of the season.<br>
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Brad Jones and Mitch Moreland added solo homers in the sixth and seventh for Mississippi State and a three-run eighth capped the scoring for the Bulldogs' fifth straight win.<br>
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(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
